If you're like me, you have a basket in your laundry room full of socks with no match.  I go through them a couple times a year and try to find their mates.  Sometimes the missing socks show up, but many of them have been in my basket for years.

Every time I pull out my basket to pair them up, I wonder, "Where the heck do all the socks go?"

A few reasons I can come up with (they mostly make sense):

• The socks never actually made it into the laundry as a pair and one is still lying beneath a bed or under my car seat (no wonder it smells so bad in there!)

• My cat takes socks out of the laundry basket and hides them away somewhere so she can chew on them while I am at work

• One of the socks had a hole in it and I threw it away, but the other one was still good so it ended up in the laundry.

• My boys wore two different socks for crazy dress day at school and god only knows where those ended up.

• The socks were matched up improperly when we folded the laundry so we have pairs of socks in our dresser drawers that actually aren't pairs (good thing it's acceptable now to wear two different socks).

• The washing machine (or dryer) somehow swallows them up and there's a hidden compartment full of socks in the back somewhere. 

Regardless of how it happens, it seems to happen to everyone.  We all have a pile of mismatched socks that we look at from time to time and attempt to find their matches so we can restore them to a natural pair.  

There are a few things in life that I believe are better in pairs - socks, shoes, earrings...even people.   There's something calming about seeing these things lined up next to each other in a perfect set.

And then there's the basket of mismatched socks, a jumble of different styles, colors and sizes.  That basket reminds me of the chaotic nature of life and that sometimes things don't match up perfectly.  

I believe searching for missing socks is a simple way for us to keep life in perspective.   

You may find those missing socks under a bed, behind a dresser, beneath a car seat, or you may never find them at all.  And all of those outcomes are okay, because you've taken the time to look for them and put the little things in your life back in order.

After you've matched up everything you can, you put the leftover socks back in the basket and put it away.  You feel good about the fact that you've matched up a few pairs and your basket is less full than before. 

And hopefully you smile and maybe even laugh a little.  After all, it is pretty funny when you think about it.  

Where DO all the socks go???